Category Archives: Education

What Happens When Women Run Colleges?

Posted on July 1, 2019 by Fenster

Fenster writes: “What happens when women run colleges?”  Could be just a provocative question.  Could be the opening line leading to a challenging set of discussions.  Could be a joke awaiting a punch line. It is in fact the title … Continue reading →

Posted in Education, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , | 2 Comments

Why Does College Cost So Much?

Posted on June 25, 2019 by Fenster

Fenster writes: Thomas Sowell tweets: Those who want the government to provide subsidies to help meet the high cost of college seem not to consider whether government subsidies might have contributed to the high cost of college in the first … Continue reading →

Posted in Education, Uncategorized | Tagged , | 1 Comment

Daniel Dennett on Scholarly Writing

Posted on February 22, 2019 by Fenster

Fenster cuts-and-pastes: Daniel Dennett, Intuition Pumps, and Other Tools for Thinking Fenster recalls his close brush with scholarly writing here.

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Grammar and Culture

Posted on December 27, 2017 by Fenster

Fenster writes: Thaddeus Kozinski asks the perennial question: Can Studying Grammar Save Our Culture? Hint, he is writing for The Imaginative Conservative so I think his answer will be yes, don’t you? And I think I agree with him.  Don’t … Continue reading →

Posted in Education | 2 Comments

Nerds Who Aren’t As Smart As They Think They Are, The First in a Possible Series

Posted on November 22, 2017 by Blowhard, Esq.

Blowhard, Esq. writes: In this NYT profile of 23andMe CEO Anne Wojcicki, Anne’s mother Esther has this to say about her daughter dating Yankee* Alex Rodriguez: “I liked A-Rod, he was a very nice man,” Esther Wojcicki told me. “He … Continue reading →

Posted in Education, Sports | Tagged , , , , | 8 Comments

Quote Du Jour

Posted on November 14, 2017 by Blowhard, Esq.

Blowhard, Esq. writes: The Post-Modern Left imagines a system of 'systemic oppression' so devious that it allows every adult to vote, own property, work any job, move anywhere, marry anyone, learn anything, and say anything. — Geoffrey Miller (@primalpoly) November … Continue reading →

Posted in Education, Philosophy and Religion | Tagged | 15 Comments

The Production of Billionaires

Posted on November 4, 2017 by Fenster

Fenster writes: So here are the colleges that, according to Forbes, “produce” the most billionaires. The “produce” word suggests cause and effect, with the hint that if your kid can get in ze will absorb some of that magic pixie … Continue reading →

Posted in Education, Politics and Economics | 5 Comments

Sokal Redux?

Posted on May 30, 2017 by Fenster

Fenster writes: When making sense no longer makes sense it is very tempting to stop making sense, this urge itself a form of sense-making.  In 1984 the interrogator tells Winston Smith that two and two can equal five if the … Continue reading →

Posted in Education, Uncategorized | Tagged , | 4 Comments

What is the “Right” Take on Higher Education?

Posted on May 1, 2017 by Fenster

Fenster writes: My wife makes fun of me because when I give directions I tend to mix up left and right.  I don’t know why I do this.  I am a fairly hard “P” (perceiver) in Meyers-Briggs terms so it … Continue reading →

Posted in Education, Politics and Economics | Tagged , | 3 Comments

Conrad Black, William Deresiewicz, and David Goodhart. What Manner of Coming Conflict?

Posted on April 4, 2017 by Fenster

Fenster writes: Three authors have proposed a way to think about current and coming conflicts.  Conrad Black sees the conflict as between the religious instincts of the people and the secular worldview of the elite.  William Deresiewicz thinks that lurking … Continue reading →

Posted in Education, Philosophy and Religion, Politics and Economics, Uncategorized | Tagged , , | 6 Comments